Ronald Weasley & The Curious Case Of Time-Turning
by LynxGirl90
Summary: 【ONE-SHOT】: "Hermione, did we ever… I mean in our third year… Did we ever… kiss?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her. Set in Ron & Hermione's third year at Hogwarts, this here, is a humorous take that on the unfortunate repercussions that Time-Turning could have on Ron & Hermione's blossoming romance. Shit-loads of WAFF and fluff at the end!


**Story Title:** Ronald Weasley & the Curious Case of Time-Turning  
 **Author:** LynxGirl90 **  
Main Pairings:** Ron/Hermione  
 **Time-Period:** 1993 - Ron  & Hermione's Third Year Hogwarts  
 **Story Type:** One-Shot  
 **Genre:** Humor/ Romance  
 **Rating:** T

 **Backstory:** _"Ronald Weasley & The Curious Case of Time Turning"_ really is the actual and full story that gets mentioned in _"Chapter 30: Days of Future Past"_ in my other **on-going main story titled,** _ **"Sirius Black: The Real Hero."** _ For those who are interested to know how this incident gets mentioned in that story, may visit that story and read that chapter for themselves. This story here, will make more sense then and perhaps would also help more to explain the significance of this incident better:)

 **A/N:** Hope everyone enjoys this story as much as I did writing it!:) Ooh, and watch out for a lot of WAFF and Fluff! =)

* * *

~oOo **Ronald Weasley & the Curious Case of Time-Turning **oOo~

* * *

"How did you do that?" said Ron, as a million thoughts scoured through his otherwise inactive brain.

"What?" said Hermione, joining them.

"One minute you were right behind us, the next moment, you were back at the bottom of the stairs again!" he squeaked, pointing at the place where Hermione currently stood, huffing and puffing under the weight of her over-sized bag.

"What?" Hermione looked slightly confused. "Oh - I had to go back for something. Oh no -"

A seam had split on Hermione's bag. Ron wasn't surprised; _not one bit_ , no.

"Why are you carrying all these around with you?" Ron asked her, as he bent down and helped her with the dozen or so mind-numbingly heavy books.

"You know how many subjects I'm taking," said Hermione breathlessly. "Couldn't hold these for me, could you?" she said, piling more books into his hand.

"But -" Ron was turning over the books she had handed him, looking at the covers. "You haven't got any of these subjects today. It's only Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon."

"Oh yes," said Hermione vaguely, but she packed all the books back into her bag just the same. Ron looked quizzically at her, not understanding any of what she was doing or saying. "I hope there's something good for lunch, I'm starving," she added, and she marched off toward the Great Hall.

Ron raised his eyebrows as she flicked her bushy hair away from her face and stalked off a little bit more quickly than the normally acceptable standards going by Hermione.

Yeah. It's official. Hermione, poor girl, has most tragically and irrevocably, slipped into third-stage insanity; either that or her _dreadfully_ brainless cat had eaten its own vomit. Had to be one of the two.

"D'you get the feeling Hermione's not telling us something?" Ron asked Harry, trying to seem as nonchalant as possible only to realize he'd failed miserably when Harry cocked an eyebrow and folded his hands over his chest in an interrogative-sort-of-way.

Ron immediately started to huff and puff and ' _pfft!_ 'and shrug at Harry only to make matters that much worse. Harry's eyebrows merely arched higher than ever before.

"Oh, for the love of Merlin's oversized knickers, hold your imagination there, Harry, I beg of you," Ron and started toward the Great Hall.

"Oh no, don't you worry about it, Ron," laughed Harry, as the two of them made their way down the stairs and ran after Hermione. "'Cause, you know, even if she really _is_ secretly hooking up with the troll in the girls' bathroom…" he began amidst uncontrollable spurts of laughter.

"Oh, no, here we go again," whined Ron.

"No, I'm just saying… You couldn't possibly miss it for the _world_ , I assure you," roared Harry making Ron turn a rather deep shade of crimson in his face. As Harry continued to crack up and lose his head over his own joke, Ron decided to give Harry a taste of his own medicine.

Smirking wickedly, he said, "Boy, I wonder what Cho could possibly be up to, right about now," which immediately seemed to do the trick. Harry stopped dead in his tracks and wore an expression of absolute shock and disbelief.

"Wh... Wha...? You... Sh.. What...?" stammered Harry, who seemed to have been rendered speechless at the moment.

Ron merely shrugged, while sporting an eerily calm expression on his face before tossing out a very smooth, "Yeah, no, last I heard, she stole the snitch that you caught and refuses to spit it out until you do the honours…"

"Tha... That's _disgusting_ , Ron!"

 _Mua-haha!_ thought Ron to himself. _Do I know my best friend, or what?!_ he mused, while laughing uncontrollably at Harry who continued to gag at Ron's sly suggestion earlier.

 **~oOo-oOo~**

That night, all the students were filing back into the Gryffindor common room after a terrific DADA class. Ron, especially, was elated and over the moon that he had successfully tackled the grossly-constipated and nauseatingly hairy giant spider boggart in class this afternoon; so elated that he hardly noticed how disturbed and preoccupied Harry was, or the number of times Hermione had glanced over at him ever since the DADA class ended, as he followed Seamus, Dean, Lavender and Harry into the gold and crimson room.

"Did you see me take that banshee?" shouted Seamus. "And the hand!" said Dean, waving his own around.

"And Snape in that hat!" squeaked Lavender, as she collapsed on the couch laughing at the memory.  
"And my mummy!"

"I wonder why Professor Lupin's frightened of crystal balls, though," said Lavender thoughtfully.

"All in all, I must say, that was the best Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson we've ever had, wasn't it?" said Ron excitedly as he slumped down on to a couch next to the fire.

"He seems like a very good teacher," said Hermione approvingly while sitting beside Lavender and stretching her legs out on the sofa. Ron's eyes involuntarily moved away from Hermione's face for a split second only to receive a nudge from Harry which immediately brought him back to earth. "But I wish I could have had a turn with the boggart -"

"What would it have been for you?" said Ron, sniggering. "A piece of homework that only got nine out of ten?"

"You know, on second thought, I personally think my boggart could have been _you_ ," retorted Hermione, pointing directly at Ron. Everyone in the room hushed up and turned to look at Ron, looking just as confused as Ron felt at the moment. For a split second, Ron's stomach did such an uncomfortable jolt, he feared his bottom might just fall ' _thud!_ ' to the floor before realizing Hermione wasn't done talking just yet, "dressed as a giant _cockroach_!" she squealed and squirmed making the rest of the room roar back with laughter.

Ron scoffed too, trying very hard to keep his face as straight as possible, while simmering with hurt. "What... Am I that frightful?" he asked smiling widely while also trying to sound as uninterested as possible.

"You _terrorize_ me, Ron!" teased Hermione. "Every time I hear a commotion in the corridors, I find myself wishing and praying that it's not you again about your rat!" she said, half-smiling, half-laughing. The others, including Harry, sniggered and giggled at Ron while hi-fiving Hermione.

Ron scowled. She always did that. Always. _Why did she always have to do that, though?_ Ron scowled as his face burned red with embarrassment while the others continued to roll with peals of laughter.

"Yeah, well," he began, "at least the boggart's saved as far as looks are concerned," said Ron, sniggering at Harry and Seamus while secretly seething with sarcasm and revenge. "I mean, imagine if Hermione's lovely charms had rubbed off on it," he said, leaning against Dean on the couch, "it would've ended up looking like a cross between a very hairy Crookshanks and the swotty head of Hermione herself!" he said, cracking up a little more than necessary, which, unfortunately made him sound a tad bit deranged.

Dean and Seamus had all but lost it as they passed out on the couching laughing their heads off while Lavender and Harry merely looked stunned at what Ron had said. Harry glared at Ron as if asking him to shut up.

"And that's not all!" he continued. "She'd also be the first witch ever to have a boggart that looks just like her!" Dean and Seamus were in splits now as tears poured from their eyes while Harry and Lavender mutely watched the scene quite unsure how to react. "I mean," he continued (It's shocking how he still finds the need to continue, _I know_ ), "it's one thing to be _unsightly_ , but to be _afraid_ of oneself to a point where your own face is your boggart is totally _unheard of_!"

Dean thumped the couch so hard, it made Harry cough uncontrollably. Hermione, on the other hand, looked like she was mustering up every muscle in her body to remain calm.

"Oh, the horror, my eyes… _MY EYES!_ " Ron continued to bawl, completely oblivious of the effect his words were having on Hermione.

Harry shook his head in disbelief at Ron's _complete lack of tact_ in wooing The Girl he's had a (secret) crush on forever. Also, Hermione was his best friend. No one, not even 'Dickhead Ron' is allowed to hurt her this way. So Harry, instead, tried to catch Hermione's eye to give her some sort of comfort and reassurance that their dear friend had unfortunately lost all the screws in his brains and that she shouldn't take him at all seriously. Quite predictably, though, she had eyes only for one person in the room at the moment.

"Are you done?" Hermione asked shakily, while Ron rolled on the couch with laughter with Dean and Seamus who were discussing other _ridiculous_ scenarios and possibilities where a boggart could look like other _parts_ in one's body.

Ron was so doubled up with laughter that he couldn't get himself to straighten up and look at her just yet. Before he could wipe his eyes and calmed down, however, she had already stormed out of the common room.

Ron's face fell. He looked over at Harry who was eyeing him dangerously.

" _Well…?_ " he asked, with raised eyebrows. "Are you going to simply _sit_ there?" he asked, his tone bordering on mild psychosis.

"Alright, alright," he said, shrugging innocently at him while still trying to stifle the laugh that was threatening to escape his mouth. "I'll go," Ron mumbled, but practically made a dash out of the common room.

"Hey, Hermione!" he called out as soon as he reached the hallway that led to the girls' and boys' dormitories and saw that she was almost at the foot of the landing that led to the third-year dorms.

"Forget it, Ron. Just leave me alone!" she cried as tears flooded down her face.

"Hermione, wait! I was just… I didn't mean to…"

"Honestly, you're such an _arse_ , Ronald Weasley!" she cried one more time before adding, "and thanks a lot for all the rave compliments back then, I feel _wonderful_ ," she said, before storming out of sight.

* * *

 **1:12 AM**

Ron lay awake in his bed with his hands behind his head, thinking about the one girl that refuses to leave him alone and in peace just yet. Harry was so furious with Ron that, he'd refused to speak to him for the rest of the evening and _even_ had the balls to pull his curtains over his bed _without bidding him goodnight_! He'd have to deal with Potter first thing in the morning, that's for sure ( _I mean, the_ nerve _!_ ).

But all said and done, the biggest question of the century really was this: why in the wide world should 'Hermione-crying-herself-to-sleep' even _remotely_ affect him in any way, let alone having to spend a sleepless night over it?

 _I mean, why, WHY, really?_ _It's not like I like her_ that _way? Of course not! She's my best friend, that's all._

 _THAT. IS. ALL!_

 _Er… No, actually she's Harry's best friend, I don't really know_ what _she is to me. Secondly, why on earth did I have to unleash my Third Eye of SUAVE *_ note sarcasm _* on her like that in the first place? It's not like I caught her red-handed while she was snogging Dean's poor brains out of his sockets?_

 _Wait, what?_

 _What in the world? WHAT IN THE_ WORLD, _Ronald Weasley, IS THE_ MATTER _WITH YOU? Did I get severely injured in the head in DADA class today? Why a_ _m I thinking of kissing Hermione of ALL THE GIRLS in the whole entire world?_

 _Well… That's not a difficult question, really; it can be answered quite easily actually. It's 'cause YOU SUCK, Ron. Obviously why it's not practical to hit on the Goddess herself…_

Ron smacked his forehead in frustration.

 _This is going to be a long night…_

Ron stood up and stretched his spine before tiptoeing out of his dorm. He couldn't lie down for another second. Not while he was ( _secretly_ ) feeling absolutely gutted about hurting his princess's feelings so much.

 _Would you PLEASE watch out for words like that in the future, it's far too confusing as it is?!_ He smacked his head as he climbed down the stairs to the empty common room.

It was dimly lit and exactly what Ron wanted at the moment: some peace and quiet and to be as far away from Hermione as possible. However, going by the oodles of _unluck_ that Ron was generally bestowed in abundance with, what with him being destiny's most favourite child and all, it was only fair to expect _some_ amount of pain and misfortune in any scenario.

And that really was why he wasn't _at all_ surprised when the following happened:

So Ron had, most innocently, strutted towards the couch that was closest to the fire and had, in all _innocent_ honesty, planned on flopping straight on the cushions, when he heard a thud and saw a hand mirror come crashing to the floor.

Terrified and surprised beyond comprehension, Ron all but leaped on to couch screaming like he had never known was humanly possible.

" _Aaaaaarrgghhh!_ "

" _AAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGHHHHH!_ " came another, shriller and louder scream in return.

Ron opened his eyes only to end up screaming all over again. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaarrggh! Who _are_ you? Have mercy! HAVE MERCY and leave me alone for the love of…"

But Ron's words were drowned by another scream that ensued from the mystery girl whose face looked like it had been spat on by a giant Black Widow which had, later on, wrapped her entire skull with its slimy, silver web of _DEATH_!

But as Ron continued to stare into at the eerie whiteness of the face that continued to scream incessantly, he recognized that the face actually belonged to his best friend!

"Hermione?" he asked, but since her screams were so shrill, she had hardly heard him say her name. "Oi! HERMIONE!" he yelled, "would you STOP SCREAMING for Merlin's sake, you'll end up waking up McGonagall THREE WINGS AWAY!" he said, shaking her roughly, finally making her stop.

"Are you alright?" he asked, scanning her from head to toe, making sure she was fine. His heart was still racing at the speed of light as he examined the white goo that was caked all over face. "What's with all the scum?" he asked, feeling the slippery texture of the goo n his fingers that he had wiped off of her face.

Hermione, who was still white from shock, stuttered something unintelligible like, " _It's a muggle beauty product!"_ before shoving her face into her hands feeling totally embarrassed. "Ron, go away!" he heard her say from behind her hands making Ron laugh deliriously.

Suddenly, they heard footsteps thudding down the stairs that led to the boys' dormitories. Several pairs of legs seemed to be running and shuffling frantically towards them.

 _"Hermione! Hermione, is that you, are you alright?!"_ came a muffled cry from the stairway.

But, before Ron could react, scratch that, before he could even _flinch_ in response, the door to the common room crashed open and in stormed a herd of thirteen-year-old boys, huffing and puffing, wands at the ready.

Hermione and Ron stood as still as ice, gaping wide-eyed at Harry, Dean and Neville who were at first (and quite understandably too), bewildered beyond expression at what they were looking at: Ron was holding Hermione by her hands and Hermione, from her end, looked like the Ghost of Christmas Past, what with her face being smeared with white goo all over.

"Wh… Wh… What's going on?" started Harry, looking beyond confused at the pair. "Are you two okay?" he asked, finally lowering his wand. "We heard a lot of screaming…"

Ron let out a weak whimper-like noise looking mortified beyond measure. The two of them hadn't moved an inch just yet. In fact, they hadn't even _attempted_ to wriggle out of each other making it seem that much odder. Harry scrunched his eyebrows at them in total bewilderment.

 _My god, this is the longest that anyone has not_ moved _in the history of MANKIND!_ thought Ron as he nervously gawked back at his classmates. Hermione, too merely stood there, with her face mask dripping down from her face, trembling in his grip, seeming equally confounded as Ron did.

" _RON!_ " yelled Harry, finally jolting him back to his senses.

This is when it happened.

Ron still wasn't sure if it was the intensity with which Harry called out his name or the fact that, he was caught in an embrace with _Hermione Granger_ **coupled** by the fact that they were being watched by _fellow third-years_ in the _dead of the night,_ that made him do what he did (because, let's face it: never before, in the history of embarrassing moments, have the stars lined up with _such precision_ that, no amount of explaining, not matter _how much_ time passes by from this moment on, would ever be enough to urge the onlookers to believe otherwise).

In normal scenarios, Ron could simply have just let her go and followed it up with a lame explanation of sorts; he could have taken it to the next level and pretended to help Hermione up to her feet since she had fallen down and lost her memory; he could have _even_ gone the distance to merely choose to hug her only to later announce to the world that he, indeed, is in love with Granger and that, the boys need simply needed to grow up.

But no. The case wasn't meant to be just a normal scenario, was it? It was meant to be one of those truly bizarre moments that ought to be etched in the memories of every living creature on the planet, obviously. So, here's what Ron _actually_ chose to do: he pushed Hermione. Not a gentle push, no, he actually _shoved_ her away from him; shoved her with _such_ fervour that she went flying through the common room only to land painfully on her buttocks.

A shocked Harry and Dean lunged forwards to help her out while Neville and Ron merely managed to flash weak smiles at the rest of the party.

"Have you completely lost it, Ron?" yelled Harry, as he pulled Hermione up on her feet. "Are you okay, there?" he asked, sounding extremely concerned.

"Think I hit my head," she managed to croak out.

"Yeah, don't you mind this _oaf_ that we call our friend for the time-being. Not sure where his head's at, at the moment," seethed Harry, looking directly at Ron who managed to wave feebly at his best friend.

"You're not sure? _Really_ , Potter?" quipped Dean, who was finding it very hard to keep a straight face as he said those words.

Three faces blushed at the same time as Harry immediately let go off Hermione's hand and uneasily scratched the back of his head, smiling broadly to himself.

* * *

 **2:03 AM**

"Does it hurt bad?" asked Ron, as he placed a cube of ice on the swelling.

"Ron, my head looks like its sprouting _mushrooms_ everywhere, what do you _think_?" retorted Hermione, who had still not forgiven Ron for earlier.

"Alright, alright, stay still now," he murmured, as he moved closer to her trying to position the ice right. "And er… About earlier," began Ron, not willing to meet her eye just yet. "I was… I'm sorry for being such a dickhead…" he said, finally lowering his hand and looking apologetically at her.

Hermione's eyes burned with anger as she glared back at him.

The two of them were sitting on a little bench outside the boys' dormitory. Harry, Neville and Dean had headed back to their dorms after having concluded that the two love birds were merely having a spat despite Ron's _numerous_ attempts to prove them wrong.

Hermione's face was now wiped clean of all the face mask and looked breath-taking in the moonlight that streamed through the glass windows.

"What I _don't_ understand, Ron is that… _HOW_ are you able to get so darn mean?! How is it even _possible_?!" she yelled, pushing him away from her. "Why do you LOVE making me feel like garbage?!" she asked.

"I dunno, really," Ron mumbled. "Reckon it's simply because you make me feel so insecure… sometimes…" he said, as he hung his head in guilt.

"That's no excuse, Ron!"

"I know, I KNOW!" he said immediately, not willing to get her any angrier. "Just wish I could go back in time and… change it all, you know?" he said, looking expectantly at her.

* * *

~oOo **_Hermione Turns Time…_** oOo~

 **1:20 AM**

The common room was dimly lit and exactly what Ron wanted at the moment: some peace and quiet and to be as far away from Hermione as possible.

 _Wait! Wait a minute, why does it feel like this has all already happened before?_ Ron thought to himself. _This is like déjà vu!_ he thought gleefully to himself. _Hang on, does that mean I'm about to hear someone scre…_

A hand mirror came crashing to the floor followed by the unearthly, "AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaarrggh!"

Ron rushed forwards to hush her up.

"Shhhhhhh! Hermione, it's only me! Ron! Be quiet, BE QUIET for Merlin's sake!" he yelled to no accord.

Ron's words were drowned by another scream that ensued from Hermione whose face looked like it had been spat on by a giant Black Widow which had, later on, wrapped her entire skull with its slimy, silver web of _DEATH_!

"Now, you've done it!" he yelled, hyperventilating almost immediately. He knew exactly what was about to happen. That door is going to be crashed open followed by Harry, Neville and Dean. He had to do something to stop this right away.

Without thinking, he grabbed her hand and made a dash towards the stairways. Ron and Hermione could hear the thudding of feet against the stairs and Ron quickly pulled her to the dark corner behind the stairway so that they are hidden away from view.

"What are you doing…?"

"Shhhh! I don't want them to see us!"

"Er… Why ever not?" she asked suspiciously.

Ron merely opened his mouth to say something but closed it immediately realizing how stupid he could sound if he actually said his plan out loud to her.

"Hang on! I hear voices from under here!" came a voice from above. It was Neville's.

Terrified out of his skin, Ron swung his head around, praying to all the gods in the heavens to not send the gang of complete _losers_ down here.

"Ron, what _are_ we doing here?!" asked Hermione in a hushed voice.

"You think Black could've found a way to get inside the castle?" came Dean's voice. He was clearly feeling beyond petrified at the thought.

"Well, then, we may just have to deal with it, wouldn't we?" said Harry. "I'm positive I heard Hermione screaming though," he said, nervously. "Wonder where Ron is…"

" _Lumos!_ "

Suddenly, all that there was in the Universe was light. A light that was so blinding, Ron was positive he'd actually dropped dead at some point.

"Ron?! _Hermione?_ " came Harry's voice. Perhaps, it was the guilt that coursed through Ron's body because otherwise, there was no need for Harry's voice to come out sounding so arrogant and gleeful at the thought that he'd caught Ron and Hermione red-handed in their secret make-out spot.

"Harry, for heaven's sake, would you mind lowering your wand?" asked Hermione, who, on second look, also seemed to be holding her hands in front of her eyes shielding them from the blinding light.

"Right, sorry," said Harry and dropped his wand immediately. "Honestly, though? I'd like to know exactly _what_ you two were _doing_ here!" he said as soon as Ron and Hermione had stepped out from under the stairs.

"Ahem… Do you? Do you _really_ , Potter?" said Dean, this time looking even more smugly than the last time, so much so that, Ron wanted to punch him smack dab in his face and tackle the bloke to the ground.

Harry smirked before adding, "Right, my bad…"

Ron slapped himself hard on his forehead.

Great. This was a lot worse than the _last_ time!

* * *

~oOo **Hermione Turns Time _Yet_ Again…** oOo~

 **1.20 AM**

The common room was dimly lit and exactly what Ron wanted at the moment: some peace and quiet and to be as far away from Hermione as possible.

 _Great! Okay, one more chance at life, I see. Do NOT mess it up this time, Ron!_

A hand mirror came crashing to the floor followed by the unearthly, "AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaarrggh!"

This time, Ron knew _exactly_ what he had to do ( _well, hopefully!_ ).

He rushed forwards and cupped his hand tightly around her face, making sure _no_ noise escaped from that godforsaken Shrieking-Shack-cum-Mandrake-like mouth of hers. Without a second thought, he lifted her with his free hand and dashed towards the window next to the dim fireplace and threw the curtain around them so that they were completely hidden from view.

Hermione, who continued to struggle under Ron's death grip, immediately quietened down when she heard footsteps thudding down the stairs that led to the boys' dormitories. Several pairs of legs seemed to be running and shuffling frantically towards them.

 _"Hermione! Hermione, is that you, are you alright?!"_ came a muffled cry from the stairway.

A second later, the door to the common room crashed open and in stormed a herd of thirteen-year-old boys, huffing and puffing, wands at the ready.

A long pause. No one made any sound. Ron could see three wands flashing lights all over the room through the curtain's fabric.

"There's no one here…" said Neville, who seemed to be shaking from head to foot.

"It can't be possible, I heard Hermione scream mere moments ago!" said Harry, looking around frantically for any signs of Hermione.

"Er… Yes, I'm sure you heard Hermione, Harry…" came the slow brawl of that cheeky _git_ , Dean.

Suddenly, Ron could see three wands flashing directly at the curtain that they were standing behind.

 _For the love of Merlin's pants, NO! Please tell me this is not happening,_ he thought miserably to himself as the lights from the wands grew larger and larger until he was positive they were merely three feet away from Hermione and him.

"Is that Harry and the boys, are they looking at us?" Hermione whispered into Ron's ear. Ron closed his eyes in total exasperation as he heard sniggering from behind the curtain. And, THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is _exactly_ why we ought to never let women apply goo to their faces. They lose it, they simply LOSE IT!

" _What_ in the world are you two d…?" started Harry.

"Harry, for the sake of HUMANITY, I _beg_ you to not finish that sentence!" guffawed Dean making Harry (and even Neville) burst out laughing.

"But I heard screaming…" offered Harry.

" _Of course_ , you heard screaming," sniggered Dean as the three of them turned around and made their way up to their dorms. "Just glad to know our boy knows what he's doing," Ron heard him as they exited the common room laughing their lungs out.

A tense moment passed inside the curtain where Ron and Hermione were standing, pressed against each other. Several million impulses were firing through Ron's brain as it acknowledged just how closely wrapped up he was with Hermione. Ron's breathing hitched and he was positive it was close proximity to Hermione that was causing him such a severe case of cardiac arrhythmia.

And just as things started to heat up, it all went to dogs: because, the second Hermione was sure they were once again alone in the common room, she threw the curtain open and dashed as far away from Ron as possible and examined the curtain they were hiding behind. Unlike popular belief, Hogwarts never housed floor-length curtains _ever_ and hence, it was NO surprise that the boys found their hiding place without any trouble whatsoever (not to mention the odd position in which they were standing... Lord knows what kind of talk that was bound to attract!)

Ron slumped his head and walked slowly towards her, completely spent from trying to mend things that miraculously ended up backfiring at every turn.

"If I may," she began, shaking from head to toe. "WHAT were you _hoping_ to achieve with all that nonsense…?!" she shrieked, wiping her face with the towel that hung by the couch she was seated in before Ron barged in.

"To get you out of my mind…?" said Ron, hardly looking up at her.

"Excuse me?" she seethed.

"I couldn't sleep. No matter how much I tried… I… I just could not fall asleep," he said, holding his waist in complete resignation. "I couldn't stop thinking about you and how hurt you seemed after I... after I said all that..." he said. "I don't ever want to see you cry, Hermione," he said, finally gathering up enough courage to look up at her face. "I was an arse of _epic proportions_ and I'm sorry if I hurt you…" he said, looking longingly at her.

"Wow that's… I wasn't expecting that at all," she said, turning a mild shade of pink all over her face.

"And I don't blame you. I haven't given you any reason to believe otherwise, have I?" he asked, inching closer to her.

Hermione was suddenly aware of him moving closer to her and squirmed uncomfortably in her spot.

"Well, then, now th-that that's settled, we better head back up to bed," she stammered, and nodded her head fervently as if fearing she might end up changing her mind otherwise.

"Yes, of course!" said Ron, shaking his head as if waking up from a deep sleep and moved uncertainly towards the door.

"Before we go to bed though, you want to teach Dean a lesson?" she called, completely out of the blue. Ron looked up shocked beyond measure at the offer she was making and broke into a grin. He nodded his head most eagerly before adding, "What did you have in mind?"

"Pour a bucket of ice-cold water on him while he's asleep?" she asked, giggling loudly.

Ron broke into a wide smile. "I'm in," he said, and the two hi-fived each other with a twinkle in their eyes.

Still grinning, they slowly made their way out of the common room, with Ron's hand wrapped around her shoulder. As soon as they reached the windowsill on the landing of the stairway, however, he held her hand and stopped her in her tracks. "Before I forget, though," he asked, looking deep into her eyes. "What was that all about with the white scum all over your face in the dead of night, eh?" he asked, smiling teasingly at her.

Hermione blushed and, despite the darkness, she looked breath-takingly beautiful in the moonlight that streamed through the glass windows.

"I well..." she began. "It was nothing, honestly!" she said, pushing him away, but he was not ready to let go of it just yet.

He pulled her back towards him and pressed on, "Come on, it's just me, you can tell me anything," he said, making her blush more even more.

"Ron, honestly!" she began, trying to wring her hand out of his grip, but he merely locked both her hands with one hand and held her tight, giving her no way to escape. To be frank, the challenging look that Ron was currently sporting, made him seem sexy _even to him!_

"You know it's faster if you just tell me now and be done with it," he said, lightly knocking her head with his before breaking into a wide grin. Her face was just inches away from his, and though Ron was more than aware of that, it somehow didn't feel weird at all. There was a strange sense of tension growing inside of him that made him positive that something COMPLETELY out of the ordinary was going to happen any second now...

As he continued to mutely dare her to spill the beans, he felt her giving in.

"Alright, alright, fine! I was just trying to, well... I just... wanted to look pretty in the morning," she mumbled, hardly able to meet his eyes as she said those words. Ron now held her with both hands as realization struck.

" _Huh?_ " said Ron, totally taken aback by what she said. He held pulled her closer towards him before whispering, "What are you talking about, you _always_ look pretty..." he said, looking down at her slowly reddening face.

"Yeah well, that's not what you said earlier this evening..." she argued.

"Wha... _Hermione?!_ I can't believe you took all that seriously...!" he breathed out, looking incredulously at her. The two were so close to each other that there was _hardly_ any need for them be any louder than a whisper.

"Well, what else did you expect, Ron?" she hissed crossly, looking directly into his eyes. "YOU were the one who said I'd have a _boggart_ that would look just like me 'cause I... 'Cause..."

"Oh my god, Hermione, shut up. Just _shut up_...!" he hissed back, and slammed her against the wall. "You know, for a smart witch such as yourself, you're really pretty _dumb_!" he breathed, looking down at her. What he _didn't_ realize though, was how automatically his hands had moved down to her waist, making it ( _officially_ ) an 'embrace'.

He froze, struck with panic. For a second, there was an awkward pause when neither moved or said anything, but neither took _any_ steps, whatsoever, to pull apart either. He noticed how arrhythmic their breathing was at the moment, and yet, how _wonderful_. Hermione, who hadn't met his eyes for the last 20 seconds, finally looked up after having gathering up every ounce of courage left in her body. She looked Ron straight in the eye and barely whispered out a, " _Very..._ Dumb..."

That was the moment Ron fell in love... His brain shut down entirely as his heart took over for the FIRST. TIME. EVER. Blood rushed to his face as their bodies melted and wrapped into one. He didn't how or _when_ he decided to kiss her, but before he could even _comprehend_ what was happening, he felt himself lunging forwards until his lips met hers. His breath hitched in his throat as he felt her lips wrapping around his until their heads were pressed hard against each other. They broke apart with a loud _'smack'_.

He felt numb as he shivered all over from the effect of their first kiss. He couldn't believe he'd finally done it... That _this_ was the moment he'd waited for since FOREVER... That, even as he stood there looking down at her, this moment would _forever_ be etched in his memory! _That's_ when he realized Hermione stood staring at him, _desperately_ asking him for more, although NO words had come out of her mouth. Before he knew what was happening, though, the two of them wound their hands around each other and plunged into another, _more_ passionate kiss!

He had to admit: he'd always liked Hermione and was always, always, _always_ possessive of her in a way that no one had ever understood. So him wanting to (dreaming, even) kiss her like the Sun wasn't going to rise tomorrow made sense. But what astonished him more than anything was the intensity with which Hermione kissed him back! She kissed him more than he wanted to kiss her; she kissed him with more emotion than he could ever express; she kissed him back with a passion that he didn't know even existed until that second.

Ron had never kissed before but, had he known just how _exhilarating_ and _mind-numbingly_ awesome it would feel to kiss Hermione, he would've done it day after day _everyday_ until his lips fell off! The two of them were staggering along the tiny stairway landing, rubbing and caressing and fondling and kissing each other, driven entirely by instinct and not _one bit_ by experience. When Hermione felt herself slam against the wall opposite to the one they had originally stood at mere moments ago, Ron wrapped his hands around her neck and engulfed her head entirely from view as he drowned himself in the kiss, when suddenly...

* * *

 **1.48 AM**

" _HUH?!_ " yelped Ron and jerked awake.

-~oOo- **OoO** -oOo~-

* * *

 **A/N:** **PLEASE, please, please review? I'm dying to know what everyone thinks of this Romione One-Shot! =)**


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